with a name like dixon
by callmemasterchief
Summary: "Having a last name like Dixon surely gets people to raise their brows." - Harley Dixon is the younger sister of Daryl and Merle and this is her story of surviving the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
1. Chapter 1

Having a last name like Dixon surely gets people to raise their brows. Stepping into the local grocery store for something that most people think we don't need certainly has people looking my way. But ya know what, sometimes we need some damn toilet paper. But around here it's odd to see a Dixon come out from our little retreat in the woods and actually make a trip to town. That's why we all dropped out of school, my brothers and I. Didn't even reach high school and we were already burning our textbooks in the back yard. My name's Harley Dixon, but most call me Harl. It's easier to remember since all of our names did have a rhyme to it, it wasn't hard to figure out the other sibling's name.

I was born five years after Daryl and I've grown up with him. He was the one I spent my time with and was by far my favorite brother, Merle has always been in and out of a jail cell since before I was born. Not sayin' I don't love my elder brother, but he has a habit of being a pain in the ass. I've always been with Daryl though, he was the one who taught me how to survive in the woods for weeks on end. He taught me what Merle taught him, how to hunt and get the necessary things you needed when you were miles from the nearest town. For as long as I've known me and Daryl have always went out for a weekend hunt whenever we could. It wasn't hard to get away from the house but sometimes Daddy had other plans for us. My brothers had it easy with my father, even though we had the same scars over our bodies they were never _touched _by him. I'm sure Daddy'o had some nasty thoughts a few times when he was drunk off his ass but he never did anything. I was the one who had to put up with the rape. I remember the first time he touched me, me and Daryl were sleeping in our room, he on his mattress and I on mine. Our Old Man had crept in there and from the second the door squeaked as he opened it, I was awake. Living in that house taught you to always sleep lightly and with one eye open. I kept quiet, I didn't want Daryl to take the repercussion of trying to stop him and being knocked unconscious for interfering.

But Daryl knew exactly what happened because the next morning he had said something from under the hood of his old, rusted truck. I lounged in the cab, tapping the toe of my boot against the open door, hoping it'd shake away the memories. It didn't, it did the exact opposite.

"What'd he do to you?"

"Nuttin'," I spat, my nose scrunching at the thought.

Daryl growled. "Don't be actin' like he did nothing, Harl. Tell me what he did."

"You know damn well what he did."

Daryl sighed and shut the hood of the truck, leaning on it and watching me through the window. I can't recall a time where my brother was clean. Hell, I probably shouldn't rat on him 'cause I'm just the same, but he was covered in grease and dirt and clumps of mud stuck to his hair. His eyes peered at me from under all the dirt and grime, staring at me like he could see straight through. "Keep yer knife on ya and stab the fucker if he tries again."

My hand unconsciously slipped down to touch the pocket knife that was clipped to my jeans. That was easy enough, wasn't it? Just stab him, that's all I had to do. Daryl made it sound easy, though. The next time Daddy came to visit me I couldn't bring myself to grab my blade from my pocket before he tore my jeans off. And again like a wimp I just laid there, staring at the ceiling and trying to find some closure to shut me out of the situation. I didn't even cry, crying in the Dixon household was a sign of weakness. Last time I checked Daryl was passed out drunk in his truck and Merle was still locked up behind the bars of that cell down at the local station, miles away from our little trailer in a clearing of the woods. I didn't want to scream for help because I knew it wouldn't do any good. Whenever Daryl was drunk a fucking gunshot right next to his head wouldn't wake him.

Daryl and I almost never talked about it, it was an uncomfortable topic for both of us. Daryl didn't want to come to terms to his little sister being violated by their own father and me, well I don't really have to explain that. The first time we talked about it after the first night it happened was years after. We were out on one of our hunting weekends. We were gathered around the fire eating what squirrel we had caught, it was slim pickings today. I had to go to the restroom so I ventured off by myself and why mother nature decided to show up at that point, I don't know. I was pretty embarrassed, actually, there were no other woman in the Dixon house besides me but I knew what it meant. I wasn't stupid. Ma had burned to a crisp in her own damn bed and all I had were my brothers. I sulked back to camp.

"Daryl," I said as I stepped over a bush. I tossed the toilet paper over by our tent and sat by the fire again.

"Hm?" Was all I got from my brother, he was busy stuffing his face with the charred meat.

"I'm bleeding." I said simply, there was no reason to hide it. I had to tell him, he was the only one out here with me and god forsake if I was going to keep that dirty little secret all to myself. I hoped he'd know something, he had to.

Daryl just huffed, not stopping to look. "Well patch the damn thing up."

I reached over to him and knocked the plate out of his hands. That got his attention. He shot up and looked down at me with disbelief.

"What the fuck, Harl?"

"Daryl I'm _bleeding_." I narrowed my eyes at him and waved one hand in the air for emphasis. It took him awhile but he did get it, his eyebrows raising up surprisingly.

"Oh, _oh_." And what he said next didn't surprise me at all. "Well can't ya stop it?"

"Fuck, Daryl, no. I can't."

"Well what'cha want me to do about it?" He growled, sitting back down next to me.

I pulled legs to my chest and laid my chin on my knees, watching the fire. "We need to leave." I looked at him now. "We need ta get out of that fuckin' house."

Daryl rose a brow. "Why? Pa's on his last leg, he's gonna kill over any day now."

"I can get pregnant now. I don't want no fuckin' inbred baby Daryl. Hell I don't even want a baby!"

"God dammit." He got from his spot and paced around, his hands laying on his head. "What the hell are we gonna do? We can't just leave the fucker!"

"Yes we can, we can live out here. We do better out here anyways, all we gotta go is tell Merle when he gets out. We can bring yer truck out here and we'd be just fuckin' fine!"

So that's what we did. We got what we needed. We packed everything in the back of Daryl's truck and slipped down the drive way when the Old Man was snoozing. That's how we lived until Dad died and we only found out that he did when Merle got out and went back to the trailer. He knew exactly where to find us. Daryl and I were gutting the deer we had gotten a hold of a few ways out when Merle's voice echoed through the trees.

"Harl? Daryl? Are you two numb-nuts out here?"

Daryl met me eyes just as I looked at him and we both were thinking the same thing. Should we call back? But before we had time to discuss the matter my brother yelled back.

"Over here, Merle!" We both got up and went searching for him, our eyes watching the trees around the camp.

Merle ended up coming out of the brush behind our tent. He held his hands up on the air like he just hit the jack pot. "What the hell ya'll doin' out here? Ya'know Pops has killed over dead in his own rockin' chair." He sauntered over to us, reaching out to ruffle my hair when he got close enough.

"When?" Daryl asked, his voice quiet.

"Dun' know baby brother, but I went by the trailer and poor thing was rottin' already. Probably a week or so ago." Merle laugh loudly, "You guys kill 'em and 'scape out here? Na I knew better than ta let ya'll 'lone with 'em."

"We didn't lay a hand on Pops, he killed himself." I muttered, wiping my hands against my pants and letting the blood clutch to the denim.

"Now what'cha mean by that, Harl? You've gotten a smart ass mouth on ya since I left, huh? Darylena here teach ya everything you needa know?"

I growled. "Fucker got what he deserved."

"Woah!" Merle smacked my mouth lightly, "You do have a smart mouth on ya." I pushed his hand away.

Daryl finally left the little circle we had formed and went off towards the tent and started dismembering it. "We better go back, then."

After packing up camp all three of us headed back, sitting in Daryl's truck. Merle wouldn't shut up and I sat between both of them so he yapped off my ear the whole way back. "So when did ya'll leave him?" He poked Daryl in the head, his arm was laid on the back of the seat behind me.

"Some years ago." Daryl replied.

I laughed, "I didn't expect the sum bitch to make it this long."

Merle chuckled along with me. "Me neither, baby sister, me neither."

I was glad Merle didn't ask why we had left the bastard to fend for himself in his own trailer, which he seemed to remember how to do since he lasted for years. Merle wasn't going to understand, Daryl and I both knew it. He'd probably make some joke about me being a girl and when I was gonna sprout out him a nephew. So we just said that he was getting on our nerves and we couldn't do it anymore.

"I'm sorta glad he's dead." Merle said absently while he stared out the window at the passing trees. "I woulda killed him myself if he didn't."

"We all would've."

Just as Merle said Dad was slouched over in his own rocking chair. His skin was dark and gray and body liquids soiled the chair and the floor around it. I coughed once Daryl had threw the door open, the smell was more overwhelming than I had pictured it to be. And of course Merle just laughed as Daryl and I gagged.

Once I finally caught my breath and got a good amount away from the trailer I looked to my brothers. "What're we gonna do with'em?"

We decided on throwing him in our pond, since the fucker didn't deserve a good burial anyways. We ended up picking up the corpse and throwing it out the window that was next to his chair because there was no way we were gonna carry him out of the house. I couldn't help but laugh when the dead body hit the ground. I was left with dragging the corpse to the pond and Merle and Daryl had to deal with the rocking chair. I had a difficult time dragging him through the grass, even though I had muscle he was still a 300 pound man. I had a hold of his foot and was dragging him through the long blades of grass that I made a mental note on to be cut. Merle's voice snapped me out of my determination and made me look back towards the trailer where he was standing on the side of it.

"Hurry up Harley! Don't tell me you're turnin' into those little ladies who cries when they break a nail!" Leave it up to Merle to call me by my full name. He did that when he wanted to insult me, he knew I didn't like it. Harley wasn't something I wanted to be called by and most of the time I didn't answer to it.

"Shut up, Merle!" I yelled back and went on dragging the lifeless body. After a while I had made it to the pond and rolled the body in. I watched. It floated for a second before the alligators got a hold of the flesh. I didn't feel sad about what had happened. Yeah he was my father, my flesh and blood, but he was nothing to me. Nothing but a good-for-nothing drunk that enjoyed touching me every night. He deserved what he got, whatever way he had died, it was a good thing he did. Daryl was right when he said one of us was gonna end up killing him. Hell, maybe even all of us would have something to do with it. Lord knows I've thought about sneaking up behind his chair and slitting his throat for years. But you just can't do that, you just can't murder your own father in cold blood. I know it's probably sounding crazy, me saying this. But if you went through what I did, you'd have the same disturbing thoughts.

I walked back to the trailer to find the soiled rocking chair sitting in front it, it smelt too. I made my way up the cinder block steps we had made and stepped inside. The smell had died down but it still made me want to hurl. I'm guessing' Merle and Daryl had sprayed everything down with some air freshener like it was going out of style. I grabbed my stuff that was sitting by the door and headed to Daryl and I's room, looking down at the mattresses when I came in. They were bland, just a couple of mattresses that had been stripped of all blankets and sheets and pillows. For as long as I can remember I never had anything to cover up with, no matter if it was snowing outside and the fucking heater stopped working – which it did often – Daryl and I had nothing. During those nights we'd try and huddle together, pushing our mattresses side by side and trying to keep warm.

"You okay?" A voice knocked me out of my memories. It turned out to be Daryl. He stepped into the room around me and watched me.

"Yeah, m'fine. Don't start gettin' soft on me." I said flatly. I threw my things down and got out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

We lived like that for years, in that little trailer of our father's. Me and Daryl were the ones bringing home money and most of the time what we did bring home in our wallets was hijacked by Merle for his drugs. It wasn't rare to find my eldest brother high out of his mind and tripping right in the living room floor. Although when everything went to hell Merle was locked up, as usual. I was 35 and Daryl 40. I made a habit of calling him old man because of his age and he would just cuss me out and tell me to keep my trap shut. I didn't obey, of course. I know when to listen to my brother and when I can knock it off. When we stumbled upon one of those things in the woods when it all started I knew to listen to him. We were hunting and I had my rifle poised and ready in my hands. Daryl was just a head of me, his crossbow up just as my firearm was.

We smelt it first before** it **trudged out of the foliage. It looked like a human, just a little more dull and scary. Its skill was different shades of gray and cheeks were caved in. The lips were completely torn away and all that was left were snapping, yellow teeth. Blood was splattered over various parts of the body and the eyes were what caught me off guard the most. They were a faded blue with speckles on them and the pupil was no where to be seen. They looked dirty.

"Don' you take another step closer!" Daryl warned it but it only groaned in return and continued to head towards us. After Daryl spoke it started coming faster at us, limbs flailing all over the place. I pointed my rifle to the thing and pulled the trigger when I felt it was too close and Daryl surely wasn't going to do anything. Blood flew from its head and it was knocked back onto the ground.

"What the hell, Harl?" Daryl turned around to me with a disappointing look.

"It wasn't gonna answer back! Don' act like you don't know what it was after." I sighed and relaxed as much as I could. "It was coming after us and I ain't 'bout to let you get hurt so I hafta carry yer ass back to camp."

Daryl just shook me off and turned back around to the thing who laid dead on the ground now. "Fuck."

We poked at it and came to the conclusion that it was already dead. It was dead and it was fucking walking. I didn't know what to think. Those kind of things you only saw in those zombie movies, right? I thought it was impossible but I guess not.

"I don't think this is the only one in the world, Daryl."

"No fuck."

We made it back to camp and packed everything up before heading back to the trailer. Without thinking we threw everything in the bed of the truck and sat in the cab. I turned the dial on the radio and searched the stations, surely if this zombie thing was happening others would know about it. Again, didn't that happen in the movies?

"**THIS IS A NATION WIDE ALERT. FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY STEER CLEAR OF THE CREATURES. THE GOVERNMENT IS HANDLING EVERYTHING AS WE SPEAK. WITHIN A FEW HOURS EVERYTHING WILL BE CLEARED AND YOU WILL BE FREE TO CARRY ON, BUT FOR NOW DO NOT RISK IT AND GO BACK HOME. LOCK YOUR DOORS AND DO NOT MOVE. AGAIN, THIS IS A NATION WIDE ALERT**-"

Daryl turned down the volume when it started to repeat. "God damn."

I let my head fall back against the back of the seat and stared at the ceiling of the cab. "I don't think this is gonna end in a few hours."

"Sure as hell won't, I bet ten bucks the government have no clue what they're doin'."

"What should we do?" Just as I asked the question more of those things started pouring out of the treeline. There was at least ten on each side, why they had decided to come all the way up here I didn't know. Daryl immediately put the truck in reverse and we started down the drive way. We followed the dirt road all the way back into town only to find that the place had been overrun. There were people running in the streets mindlessly with those things chasing after them. Down the road a SWAT team had barricaded around their trucks and were trying their best to shoot the things.

"Poor fuckers." Daryl murmured, leaning forward on the wheel and watching as each of the monsters went down with a bullet to the head. That was apparently the only way to kill them. A woman one was shot in the shoulder but continued to limp towards the SWAT team, blowing it off like it hadn't happened.

Daryl drove right past them. "We should go get Merle."

I nodded in agreement. It didn't take long to end up at the local police station Merle was being held at. He'd seen the inside of these walls too many times to count and I'm sure he had made friends with some of the cops because of how many times he's been here. As I stepped out of the car a voice boomed in my ear. It was a familiar laughter up from on top of the roof of the building. I looked up and crouched at the sight of someone holding a gun.

"Well lookie at what we have here!" Merle's voice chuckled. "My little brother and my baby sister. Well I reckon you guys showed up here ta save me, right? Awe, look, ya'll still care about ya ol' Merle." The guy on top of the building pulled off his helmet and of course it was non other than my dear, crazy brother.

"What the hell Merle?" I shouted.

"I'll meet ya down there!"

In a matter of minutes he was bursting out of the station doors and all be damned, he was as red as a lobster and a little crazier than he usually was. He was tripping over his own feet as he waltzed over, wrapping his arm around my neck and planting a kiss on my head. "If I ain't happier than a fat kid with cake seein' ya'll."

Daryl laughed. "How long were you up there?"

I shoved Merle away with a chuckle and went to open the door. A familiar groaning made me stop and I grabbed a hold of Merle's hand and pulled him towards me, not minding that he stumbled and now most of his weight was toppled onto me. As I expected the walking corpses were right behind him and without thinking I grabbed my knife from his sheath on my hip and flung it towards the first one. Daryl took care of the rest with his bolts and had gotten my knife from the thing's head and handed it back to me. Merle was still leaning over my shoulder and talking nonsense, he was murmuring something about being laid last night.

"Merle god dammit you're heavier than a buck, get off me!" I struggled for a while but I managed to get Merle into the cab between me and Daryl.

"I think we should head back into the woods." Daryl said over Merle's jabbering. I nodded along and that's where we headed. We didn't want to go back to our old campsite seeing as they were overrun by the creatures so we headed to higher ground. I stared at myself through the rear view mirror. My hair was no longer as short as it used to be, I kept it in a tight french braid close to my head, but all that I've been through today it had pieces of hair out from their braid and flying with the wind. I had cut my hair short when I was old enough too, it was one of the things Pops would occasionally grab to get me in place or just to piss me off. My hair was a darker brown than Daryl's but I shared both of my brothers' eyes, I had the light, clear blue that was usual in the Dixon gene pool. I wasn't a bad looking woman, I looked average I thought. My lips were full and my nose was okay, even if it was slightly crooked from the many times it's been broke. Dirt and mud covered parts of my face and my neck and I was sweating like a pig. I looked no different when the apocalypse started, I looked just as I always did. I think that's what kept me sane, I didn't lose myself when shit hit the fan like most people would.

I snapped my eyes open when Merle said something loud in my ear. I felt his breath on my neck and it made me jump, my hand instinctively flying down to grab a hold of my knife. Merle stopped me before I could send the blade flying into his head.

"Calm down there, baby girl. I ain't tryin'a hurt ya. We're gonna set up camp now."

"I must've fallen asleep," I yawned, sitting up and stretching the best I could in the truck. I could see Daryl already carrying the stuff from the back over to the small clearing he found.

"You were out like a light, Harl. I'm surprised yer snorin' didn't wake ya." Merle laughed and scooted over to get out on Daryl's side. He must've woke me up in hopes he could get out on mine. I punched him in the arm before he could get out, cursing under my breath when I opened my own door and stepped out. My legs were wobbly and the sun was hurting my eyes as it peered through the trees.

Daryl scuffed when he noticed I was out and heading towards him. "'Bout time yer lazy ass is awake."

"Fuck you." I growled. "I think I'm gonna make me a bow." I said absently, sinking down onto the ground against a tree.

Merle came around the truck, carrying what was left in the back and letting it fall to the ground beside me. It was two duffel bags, nothing too heavy. "Why would ya do that when you got that fuckin' shotgun a' yers?"

"Bullets run out and it looks now I don't think we're gonna get any anytime soon. Darylena does just fine with that damn crossbow of his." I argued.

Merle just chuckled. "No shit. I was up there fer a few weeks. I guess it took a while for those fuckers to knock some sense inta ya for ya'll to come get me."

"Weeks?" Daryl choked out.

"Weeks, baby brother."

Everything was set up pretty nice by the time the sun had started to settle down behind the horizon. Our tent was up and we had decided to place someone on guard while the rest of us slept, then we would switch when one of us woke. We couldn't risk getting overrun while we were all snoozing. Daryl and Merle caught some squirrel while I was working on my bow and we were now sitting by the small fire we lit, stuffing our faces with the meat. I sat across from my brothers and my bow sat beside me. I'd made a few before over the years. I had always discarded them though. They were pretty simple and I guess over the years I had seemed to perfect my technique because this one was a helluva lot better than my old ones.

"Why don't you guys sleep first. I needa make me some arrows." I said between mouthfuls. Both of them nodded and continued to eat.

When everybody was done and Merle was already tucked away in his tent Daryl had made me look at him from my arrow making before he went to bed. "You best keep that shotgun in reach, now Harl."

"M' not stupid." I snarled, shooing him away with my free hand. I knew why he said that, it was something Daryl rarely made sure of: that I was safe. He almost never told me to stay safe whenever we were out hunting. Even as little kids he knew I could damn well hold my own, Merle did too. Hell they were the ones that raised me. There's no better way to be raised then by a couple of Dixon's out in the woods. Even though it made me feel like I was a burden I enjoyed what he said. Comfort wasn't a thing we had really ever experienced so we had learned our ways to give it to one another.

At least a few hours had passed and everything was relatively quiet besides the occasional squirrel or raccoon rustling the bushes from behind the treeline. I had made a quiver from an old T-shirt I found buried in the bottom of the junk behind the seat of the truck. It wasn't top quality grade but it would certainly do, it's not like you could just waltz to the store and buy what you needed. You could probably take it but that wasn't such a smart idea since the place was probably overrun by the dead things.

"Looks like ya got yerself set." A voice snapped me out of my thoughts and made me look up. Merle was standing over me. He was more level headed than yesterday, well, how much level headed Merle Dixon can get. "I taught ya well."

"Yeah." I muttered, getting up and throwing my quiver over my shoulder. "You gonna take over?"

Merle grunted and shrugged. "Might as well."

I walked towards the tent, moving a log in the fire on my way there. I opened the thing as quietly as I could, taking off my muddy boots at the entrance. I laid down on what blankets I suspected Merle had slept on, not far from Daryl. I laid my bow and quiver at my side just in case, if anything happened I wouldn't want to be searching the whole camp for my damn weapon. I tried to relax the best I could, it wasn't that easy. The risk of getting killed in your sleep had always been with me ever since I was little and even now it was worse. It was hard but once I had laced my fingers together behind my head and stared at the blue see-through top of the tent I found myself drifting to sleep easier than I had expected.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning I was shaken awake by none other than Merle. His hand was wrapped around my thigh and he was trying to jolt me awake. When I came to my senses and figured out where his hand was I reached for my bow and pulled an arrow from the quiver that lay beside me in a matter of seconds. I couldn't control my actions because at this point my arrow was pressed against Merle's forehead, square in the eyes. I know what caused me to do it, but I still don't see how I couldn't stop myself. I knew it was Merle and still I had reached for my weapon and I would've let go of the arrow in my finger tips if he hadn't spoke.

"Easy, now, Harl." His voice cracked, "It's just me." He put up his hands defensively and tried to calm me down.

After a while I finally relaxed and sat the weapon in my lap, staring at Merle who still seemed to be shocked by what had happened. "M'sorry." I muttered, grabbing my quiver and shoving past him. I took a second to throw on my boots that sat behind my brother.

"I came in there to wake ya up, woman. Didn't have to put a goddamn arrow to my head!" The man yelled as he got up from the tent.

I just stared at him. "What the hell did ya want?"

Merle scuffed and wiped off his pant leg. "Food."

"And why can't Daryl go?" I searched around for him.

"He already left. Said I should wake you to go too so we can have better chances."

I didn't reply back. I headed straight for the woods and once I was out of sight I sighed and tried to collect myself. I wasn't mad at myself for snapping at Merle and almost killing him, it just scared me at how quickly I had reacted. Nobody has ever touched me besides my father cause I've never let them. Sure I've got a few guys and even a few girls following my trail at the bar when I went but none of them I got cozy with. Merle didn't know what Daddy did to me because he was never around. Merle left us because he was afraid he'd do away with our old man if his habits continued. Merle left and didn't look back. Sometimes I think he purposely got himself in trouble to not have to come back to the trailer to face Daryl and I's new burns, bruises, and scars. I loved my eldest brother, but sometimes I wished he had stayed.

A rustling of the leaves made me pause and turn to where it came from. From years of tracking and hunting I could just about pinpoint any sound that I heard. Within a few seconds a doe had peered out from the bushes, just strutting her way through. I've always admired how beautiful these animals were, they were graceful and elegant. But never once did I regret killing one. Except now. I straightened my back and pulled the bow taut, pointing the head of the arrow straight at the doe's neck. I let go and the animal went down with a thud.

"_What happened?"_

"_I don't know man, it just fell." _

I froze when I heard unfamiliar voices. I crouched behind a near by tree and watched as two men stepped out into the clearing. One looked like one of those stereotypical high school jocks you saw. He was well built and a towering individual, certainly beating the other guy in height by just a few inches. On his head sat a baseball cap with the worlds 'POLICE' written straight across the front and he held a shotgun firmly in his hands. The other was a bit lankier than the first and had stubble covering his face and held a rifle.

"It's a damn arrow." The big guy muttered, stepping closer to my kill and poking at my arrow.

"What the hell?"

This is when I decided to step out. I pulled an arrow out of the quiver that sat on my back and readied it in the bow. I stepped out and pointed it at their heads. "You guys certainly dun' know how to respect other people's property." I snarled.

They pulled their guns on me and narrowed their eyes. They weren't happy. "Now no need to get all defensive. I'd say it's pretty stupid threatening two grown men with guns." The big one said.

"If I sent an arrow straight through yer head it wouldn't take me two seconds to throw my knife into his." I motioned to the smaller guy. "Now I suggest ya'll get yer little asses away from my kill before I'ma have to gut you too."

"Easy, easy! What's a nice lookin' lady like you talking like that?"

"Shut the fuck up and scat! I ain't bluffin' you sum bitch." I growled and stepped closer, trying to show that I was serious. This doe was mine and god forsake if I was gonna let them take it.

The one I figured was the leader of the two relaxed his hands and let his gun drop to his side. The smaller guy followed his move. "We have a group a little ways away, if you're out here all alone we'll be happy to take you in. You look like you've had it hard enough."

I snickered. "And I thought you were starting to get smart."

"Harley is that you?" Daryl came out into the clearing randomly but once he saw the sight of the others he had his crossbow up. "What the hell is this?"

"These sum bitches were tryin' to take my fuckin' doe!" I looked over to my brother quickly who started to shuffle sideways towards me, not moving his weapon from the guys. "They're talkin' 'bout a group."

The smaller guy finally said a word. "Yeah, we've set up camp not far from here, quite a lot of people. Since you two look like decent hunters it'd be nice to have you around."

"What the hell do we get from it?" Daryl spat.

"Company?"

"That's what I thought, nothin' good."

I thought for a second, there was a group with as they put it, 'quite a lot of people', and everybody was in need for supplies these days. It would be sad if they're supplies just happened to disappear. "We'll take you to our camp. We've gotta talk to our brother 'bout it." I said hastily, glancing over at Daryl who was staring at me with disbelief.

"Sounds good."

We walked back to camp, dragging the doe in tow. Merle bounded when he saw some new people. He had his gun pointed at them the second they stepped into his line of site. "What the hell?"

"Merle! Calm down, let's talk." I motioned Daryl over and we gathered up away from the two guys, far enough to where they couldn't hear.

"What the fuck you bring them back for, girl?" Daryl said. "We ain't lookin' for no charity."

"Shut the fuck up and let me talk!" I sighed. "They've got a group a ways from here. Sounds set up pretty good from what they've said. Just think, they've got supplies, cars, food. Everything we need." I smiled when Merle's face started to light up. "We could loot the place while they're sleepin' and get away."

"I knew I loved ya, baby sister." Merle chuckled and grinned smugly. "What'cha think about this Darylena?"

Daryl nodded. "It's smart."

We broke the group and walked towards the two guys who just stood there, dumbfounded. "Okay. Let us get our things then we can ride back in the truck."

The group they had talked about was pretty good in numbers. There were a few families that made up the whole thing. We parked the truck in front of some guy's RV.

"Come meet everyone." The guy had introduced himself as Shane while riding back, he was the big guy. The other was Jim.

Me and Daryl lingered behind Merle who stepped out towards them like he wasn't afraid at all. He opened his arms and laughed loudly. "Well looky here! New roomies!"

"Shut up, Merle." Daryl and I said in unison.

"This is Lori and her son Carl." Shane pointed at a nice looking woman. She was thin like the rest of them and had her hand reassuringly on her son's shoulder. The little kid had freckles scattered about his face and looked cheery when he waved at us. Shane then pointed at a Mexican family who stood together. "This is Morales," He waved at the man," Then Miranda and their children Eliza and Louis." They were a nice little family, it seemed. The little girl stood close to her father and clutched her doll to her chest and looked like she was afraid of Merle who stood there grinning like a happy puppy. I didn't blame her, I'd be scared too if a racist redneck was grinning at me like he had nothing better to do.

"Amy and Andrea," They were these two blond sisters. They were pretty and Andrea was obviously the eldest since Amy cowered behind her. "Jacqui, T-Dog, Sophia, Carol-"

"I'm Glenn. It's a pleasure to meet you." Damn Chinese kid was the first person to say anything.

"Glenn," Shane muttered, "Then Dale." He waved his hand tot he top of the RV and an old man with a hat and a rifle in his lap waved at us. Neither of us waved back. "Guys this is Merle, Daryl, and Harley."

"Harl," I corrected him.

Shane just nodded awkwardly. "Thank her because she was the one who got our dinner."

We scattered and went to sent up our tent a little ways from everyone else, a little closer to the woods.

"They seem like nice people." Daryl piped.

"We just gotta play nice right back so they'll warm up to us, baby brother." Merle chuckled. He was sitting on his ass and watching Daryl and I put up the tent.

I opened my mouth to say something back but a soft, pleasant voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Hello." I looked up to see a lanky lady standing with a laundry basket in her hands. She had short gray hair and didn't dare to look at my eyes. Instead she kept them at my feet, a peculiar thing I thought. I figured it was just shyness until I noticed dark bruises on her shoulder that accidentally peaked out from under her shirt. "I'm sure you guys haven't had your clothes washed in awhile." She smiled kindly.

"Damn right we haven't! Look at this baby sister, a woman comin' to get laundry. That's exactly how a woman should act." Merle chuckled darkly, "Maybe you should take some tips from this lovely lady."

"Keep talkin' like that, Merle, and you won't have any teeth left." I snapped back, throwing up the finger in the process.

The woman just stood there. "I'm Carol."

"We can wash our own damn clothes." I said.

Carol just shook her head. "No, please. It's the least I can do since you're the reason my daughter will be eating tonight."

"I said no." I muttered.

Merle had other ideas though. He stood up and began to go through our bag of clothes. "Don't listen to her, pretty lady, she's too stubborn." He handed her just his. Carol just nodded and moved away. Merle looked at me when she left. "I said we gotta play nice now, Harl."

"Whatever." I said and went to walk around the camp. I just took a stroll around, taking note of where the food was kept, who held the keys to the cars, and who all had firearms. Carol was still going around with her little laundry basket, playing Mama Bear and taking up everyone's dirty clothes. I stopped at the fire where the other women sat just staring at the doe.

"You guys know how'da prepare the thing?" I asked, pointing lazily at the deer.

Amy looked at me and shook her head. "No. Shane has always done it for us and he went down to the quarry for some water."

Since I was closer to them I could finally take notice in the different things about the woman besides just their hair and eye colors. Lori sat on the edge of the log looking uneasy and her face was sullen. Seemed she tried to put on a happy grin for everyone but there was something wrong. Andrea and Amy stayed close together, Andrea usually being the one in front while Amy just sat back and let her older sister protect her. They were close, them two. Whenever she could Andrea would sneak a glance at Amy as if to make sure she was still there, alive and well. Jacqui seemed like the most confident out of them.

I sighed loudly and went around the fire, climbing over the girls and kneeling besides the doe. I pulled out my knife and began to prepare the thing. I could hear the gasps and groans of the women behind me. Guess it wasn't a usual thing they saw.

"You do that well." Andrea said. I could picture her leaning to get a better view.

"Done it a thousand times before." I answered. When I was finished I wiped the knife on the thigh of my pants and returned it back to its sheath. "Don't burn it." I said harshly before I headed towards the RV. The old man with the weird hat still sat at the top of it in his lawn chair. I figured that I should actually try to act nice and get them to trust me since with their trust it'll be a whole lot easier to get a hold of the things we had planned to get our hands on. I made it up the ladder and once he saw me he sent a happy smile my way.

"It's amazing that Shane and Jim found you. We probably would not have eaten tonight if not."

I shrugged. "I guess. You always stay up here?"

Dale shook his head. "No, I'd drive myself crazy if I did. We all switch off on watch. We all have to try to be well rested in case a walker invades."

"Walker?"

"Yeah, we call them walkers. Since they're dead...but walking." Dale said, shrugging his shoulders before looking back over the land.

"Not zombies?"

Dale laughed. "The mama's in the camp don't like to hear that around the children."

I just nodded, following his eyes to the forest in front of us. It was a while before Dale said anything else, maybe the silence got too awkward for him.

"I noticed your sharing that one little tent with your brothers. I've got an extra in the RV, you're welcome to use that." He said without taking his eyes from the scattered trees out in front of him.

"I'll be fine. I've bunked with them more times than I can count." I headed back towards the ladder but stopped when my neck hit the top of the RV. "It's Dale, right?" Dale nodded before I continued my way down.

That night we had two fires going, one main fire and then another for Mama Bear and her family. Dinner was good and to my surprise the women had managed to not burn the stuff.

"Where are you guys from?" Andrea piped up beside me, breaking the awkward silence. I'm guessing nobody wanted to speak because they had taken in new people and were too nervous to say anything.

Merle, who sat beside me, answered. "Florida, originally." Lie.

Andrea nodded. "And you guys moved all the way up here when everything started?"

"Na, family moved here when Harleen wasn't even born yet." He glanced at Daryl as if he expected him to say something. Leave it to my brother to be the fucking antisocial one. Now I know I'm not the best person to get along with, none of us Dixons are, and I may not like people but at least I talk to them. I think Merle and I handled the abuse better than Daryl.

A chuckle arose from everyone at Merle's little nickname.

"You all know how to hunt?" Glenn asked, looking up quickly from his can of beans before retreating back to his meal.

"Yeah. Comes in handy, nowadays." I muttered, pointing at Shane before speaking again. "Having some guns like that out huntin' is kinda stupid. You can't afford to be heard by them things."

Shane chuckled. "Yeah I see why you guys have those." He motioned to the bow that sat at my feet and Daryl's crossbow that he kept at his side. "Where'd you get them?"

I turned back to look at Daryl who peered up at me at the same time. "I made mine," I said, turning back to the fire. "I'unno 'bout my brother. Think he bought it somewhere."

Carl's mouth gaped open. "You made yours?"

I nodded, I couldn't help but smile at how surprised he sounded. "Uh-huh, they're not that hard. I taught myself."

"That's so cool!" The little boy gushed, turning to look up at his mother who sat in a lawn chair behind him. "Can I make one, Mom?" Then he stuttered, "if of course Harley wants to teach me."

"I wouldn't mind." I murmured, taking another mouthful of my dinner. I looked at Lori wearily.

She gave me a half-ass smile. "We'll talk about it tomorrow, alright? We need to head to bed." She got up and Carl followed. "Night, guys." She took her son firmly by the shoulder and led him away.

I couldn't help but feel like the topic had made her run. Maybe she didn't want her little boy growing up too fast and teaching him how to make and shoot a bow was a big deal. I scuffed and sat my empty plate down. Soon a few more people followed and went to bed. Jacqui and T-Dog left around the same time, then went Morales and his family, Merle, Daryl, Jim, and finally Amy before it was just me, Shane, Andrea, and Glenn. Mama Bear's family had put out their fire way before Lori took Carl to bed. Dale still sat on his RV.

"How long he been up there? Mosta the day?" I asked. I was now sitting in front of the log me and Merle sat on a few minutes earlier. My legs were splayed in front of my and I stared at the fire. While everyone had started clearing out the remaining people had moved closer together. Andrea sat on the log then Shane was to our right and Glenn on our left.

I heard a sigh next to me. "He hasn't moved since this morning." Andrea muttered.

"I've got watch next." Shane said.

I shrugged. "I could take your shift. I imagine you guys need'a break."

"I can't possibly let you do that. You just arrived." Shane retorted.

I chuckled. "Whatever. If you wanna turn down an opportunity to fuckin' sleep then fine by me, Officer. More shut eye for me."

"I know I should trust you but just because you put food in our stomachs doesn't mean I should."

"Well fuck," I growled, "Just throw me and my brothers back out in the woods again and we'll be just fuckin' fine, Officer." I grabbed my bow and got up quickly, sending the finger Shane's way. I strapped the bow on my back and stomped off. I heard my brothers' snoring when I came up to the tent. They were loud as always but there was also a quiet whimper among them. Now Merle or Daryl didn't cry, none of us did. And it sounded like woman. It was soft, barely there. I checked the surrounding tents, putting my ear close to them and listening. But once I found out it didn't come from the tents I followed it towards the edge of the woods, behind the tents. And there sat Mama Bear with her back to a tree, facing away from the small town of tents and staring into the darkness of the forest.

"You shouldn't be on the edge of camp by yerself." I said, coming up closer to her.

She was startled at my voice and jumped slightly. She placed a hand on the tree and caught herself from bolting upright. A sheepish smile grazed her lips. "I know, I know. I just needed to get away from...ya'know."

I snorted. "No, I don't actually. Enlighten me?" I leaned against the tree and let my eyes fall into the same abyss she was watching.

"It's nothing." Her voice trailed off.

"Nothing? Is it yer husband? Haven't met the sum bitch yet but I see those bruises yer tryin' to hide." I didn't care to tread carefully on the topic. I didn't shake her and tell her to kill him already, Carol needed a friend. Well, how much of a friend I can get.

Carol looked up at me at that moment, her face shocked. "Yeah," She sighed.

"You didn't let yer little girl stay in the tent while yer out here, did ya?"

"Oh no. I put her in the RV, when Ed fell asleep." Carol smiled.

I watched her questioningly. "Why are you smilin'? Hell you were just cryin' a few seconds ago, Mama Bear." I spat.

She looked at me with disbelief. "Mama Bear?"

"You run around here like everybody's Mama. Takin' up their clothes, washin' and folding them. You help with dinner, dishes."

"I thought you didn't like me." Carol chuckled.

"I don't."

But she kept on smiling.

"Why haven't you killed him yet?"

Carol gasped. "He's my husband. I just can't stab him."

"'Course you can." I huffed,

Carol just sighed and looked away back into the woods, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"I can't let ya stay out here alone, woman. Get back to camp." I muttered, waving my arm in the direction of the tents. Fortunately she cooperated and got up, though sluggishly, she did. I wanted to stop her when she went back into her tent because she didn't need to be around her husband but I'd cause more problems then solutions if he woke up watching me try and coax his wife away. I figured I'll deal with him another time and headed to my tent where once again the Dixon brothers' snores waved in my ears.

"Harley," It was Shane's voice. Why wouldn't anyone leave me alone and just let me get some sleep?

I turned slowly to see him standing there with his shotgun thrown over his shoulder. I didn't see his face since the moon was behind him and lit him up around the edges, I just knew it was him. Not a lot of people in this camp were buffed like some superhero out of a comic book. "What now, Officer? Am I violatin' something?"

He chuckled. "No," He shifted his weight, "I'd like to take you up on that offer, now."

"Really? So you're tellin' me your stubborn ass came around?" I threw my hands up. "Hallelujah!"

"_Shut up, Harl and get yer ass in here! Makin' me miss my beauty sleep_."

I growled and turned to the tent again, kicking the soft side. "Go back to sleep, Merle."

I heard Shane's footsteps before I could feel his body closer to mine. His breath was on my neck and I could feel him staring. "You can say no, ya'know." He muttered.

I faced him without fear and he was so close that our noses almost touched. I snickered. "I might just have to, let ya go another sleepless night." I paused for a second. "But I feel nice tonight. So you best get outta my face before I change my mind and knock you on yer ass, Officer."

Mr. Buff laughed, I flinched when his breath rolled over my face. "Thanks."


	4. Chapter 4

When I relieved Dale he seemed sullen to get off of his RV. He looked at me with a tired, sad smile and patted me on the shoulder. "Thanks," He yawned. He handed me the rifle and I felt better with a firearm in my hands. I lifted my bow off my back and took the seat on the lawn chair where everybody else had sat before me, watching the darkness. Beneath me were endless miles of pure wilderness and forestry, something that I adored a little bit more than everyone else. I grew up being surrounded by the trees and it became home to me. I would rather be deep in the woods and have the green protect me from society than have a huge, decorated house complete with a pool and garden. And now just watching over the trees below made me smile. The moonlight jumped across the leafy tips and sunk through what they could to get to the ground. The sight before me was more than beautiful. It was something that couldn't be described in words. I loved when I could get lost in the trees. Maybe that's why it attracted me so, because I could be free and not give a rats ass for anything in the world. It was home, certainly more homey than that run down trailer. That trailer wasn't a home, it was a prison, windows were barred and inside the guards were far from nice.

I had sat there for hours when the sun finally started to rise, peaking out from above the horizon and casting a morning light on everything in its path. As if on queue my brothers woke and busted from their tent, sluggish and lazy from the deep sleep. I turned back to look when I heard a tent unzip and there they were, Merle still barefooted and rubbing his eyes like a child who had just gotten done crying, and Daryl who already had his boots on and crossbow in hand.

"Hey baby sis! What'cha doin' up there?" Merle asked and walked towards the RV.

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm on watch." I replied as quietly as I could but to where he could hear me, I – unlike Merle – didn't want to wake the others.

"Well when ya get done I need ya to run back to the trailer and get my bike. That thing could come in handy. We have a city right there, we actually might have places to go than when we were in the middle of the trees." He shielded his eyes from the sunlight with his hand and squinted up at me.

I growled. "Why me? Why can't Daryl go?"

"'Cause me and Daryl are goin' hunting today and you're the quickest outta us so you could get in and out in a hurry."

Merle had a point. I was light on my feet and certainly faster than them, so going back wasn't a bad idea. If I got overrun I could just run my way out.

"Fine."

The women and kids woke after Merle and Daryl left. I overheard Sophia asking her mama how she got in the RV overnight. Carol just shrugged it off and said it was warmer than in the tent. The women swarmed around the fire pit and started to prepare breakfast, going through the crate of canned goods they had and unwrapping the left over venison from last night. Ed was surprisingly the first of the men to wake, I'd expected him to sleep until someone came and rolled him over and told him to get his lazy ass up. I knew it was Ed because he came stumbling out of Carol's tent and whenever he got closer to the fire pit Carol shifted uneasily.

I wasn't sorry for her, I was just angry that she let it go on. She didn't have the courage to stand up to him. At least I got out of my Daddy's hands when I was old enough, at least I left him. Ed stood there and pulled out a box of cigarettes from his shorts and lighting one, all while keeping his eyes on Carol. Occasionally he would glance over at Sophia who was playing with Carl. Ed was a big guy and had a beer gut he seemed proud of and now my full attention was on him instead of what I was supposed to be watching.

"Damn, woman, I've been waiting here all day for my breakfast. How long it take ya to give me a few cans of fruit?" Ed snapped, flicking his cigarette at Carol's feet who sat on a log, bent over what was left of the meat. She jumped when the lit stick came close to her.

Andrea narrowed her eyes at Ed. "You can have one can of fruit or if you want some of the venison then go ahead. But we don't have enough to go around for you to have a few cans."

"Who are you to tell me what I can't have, woman? Most of these are mine anyway, I've been feeding all'a ya'll!" When Ed rose his voice I decided to make an entrance. I climbed off the RV as quick as I could, putting down the rifle and grabbing my bow. I stared at Ed when I made it to the fire pit, who looked like he was going to blow a fuse.

Carol laid a hand on Andrea's arm and offered her a gentle smile. "He can have mine, it's alright, I'm not hungry."

"Ain't no way you're not eatin', Carol." I growled, reaching out to push back Carol's hand that held her can of peaches towards Ed.

Ed shoved me on my shoulder and made me stumble back. "The hell you doing, lady?"

Without thinking I drew an arrow from the quiver on my back and readied it in the bow, the tip staring straight at Ed's shaved head. "You put a hand on me again and I swear you'll be dead afterwards." I growled. "You can have one can. One, fucking, can. Just take it and get the hell outta my sight." There were gasps from the women around me and I could hear Sophia calling for her mom over them.

"Please, Harl, it's fine." Carol tried to assure me.

Ed was hesitant for a moment, like he was testing if I was bluffing. His eyes watched my face and he looked for signs that I was bullshitting him. I was close to letting go before Shane intruded.

"What's going on here?" He grabbed the tip of my arrow and held it tightly with his hand, staring at me.

I relaxed and loosened my grip on the cocked arrow. "This fat ass here wanted to have Carol's breakfast."

Shane responded before Ed could get his big mouth open. "You know we don't have enough, Ed."

"Whatever." Ed picked up a random can from the crate with an attitude and walked off with an angry huff.

Carol put a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you."

I just nodded before I was pulled in the opposite direction by Mr. Buff by the arm. He pulled be away from the pit and towards the tents before he let me go with a spin. "There was no reason to pull your weapon at Ed."

I chuckled sarcastically. "So you're just gonna let him take Carol's food and let her go hungry? What a great leader you must be, Officer."

Shane sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Harl, just don't do it again."

"Whatever," I strapped my bow to my back. "Merle and Daryl went huntin' and I've gotta go back to the trailer to get Merle's bike."

"And you're gonna go alone?" Shane asked.

"That's the plan." I left Shane in the dumbfounded in the dust and took Daryl's truck back to the trailer. I went back into the city to find out where to go. I stayed on the back roads of the city, knowing that walkers were probably crawling the streets. I passed a few as I went on and never looked back to see if they had changed their direction and decided to follow me. After about an hour or so I finally made it to the dirt road that lead to out trailer. It was clear, oddly enough, a big change from when we left. When I rolled up on the trailer a few walkers limped out from behind it, I guess they'd heard the truck. I grabbed my bow and got out of the truck, pulling an arrow from my quiver and within a few moments all three walkers lay dead, again, on the ground. I pulled the arrows from their heads before I went on.

Merle's bike was always parked in the back of the trailer. Since the trailer itself was in a clearing on the dirt Merle could easily drive it in the back. For as long as I can remember that's where he's kept it. He didn't like to leave it out in the open for fear someone would grow some balls and come take it or the people Merle owed something to would. I grabbed the thing by its handles and pushed it out in front to the truck. I lay down the hatch and leaned a piece of plywood Daryl kept in the bed at a slant against the truck. It took some muscle to get it up there but after a while Merle's bike was sitting in the back of the truck. I slid the plywood next to it and closed the hatch.

The ride back to the camp was easy, the back roads were a life saver. Merle and Daryl weren't back yet when I pulled up, I hoped they were actually getting something. Shane was on watch and when I stepped out of the cab he pulled his hat off his head and waved to me. Since I was gone for a couple of hours everybody had time to wake up and were bustling around. Mama Bear and Jacqui were doing laundry while Andrea, Amy, and Lori were sitting by the fire pit and chatting away. I couldn't see Morales' wife in sight. Dale and Jim were bent over the front of the RV. Sophia and Carl were lounging away from everyone else but still in sight of their mothers. I couldn't see T-Dog anywhere.

After watching the group for some time, letting my eyes jump from person to person, I guessed it would be a great time to get some sleep. I'd been up for at least 24 hours, possibly more and I was still going. I didn't feel tired or drowsy but since there was nothing else to do I took the tent for myself. I laid down and stared up at the blue see-through roof of the tent and locked my fingers behind my head. It wasn't long after that I fell asleep.

**.x.**

Merle's friendly facade slowly disintegrated and the real redneck came out. It started with him smarting off to Shane, the leader of all people, although I don't blame him, Officer Buff pressed my buttons too. Then he started with sexist comments to the women, who again in turn went back right on Shane because they started complaining. Then he wouldn't pull his own weight and do nothing but sit down in a lawn chair and bitch at people, it was only me and Daryl who brought everyone's food after that.

Everyone thought it was the drugs that made him that way. When I went back to get Merle's bike I didn't think that I would be starting the timer on a time bomb. I forgot he hid the stash in the pouch of his bike until my brothers came back from their hunt with some squirrel on a string and he went straight for his bike. He tried to hide the fact that he stole a pill bottle from it and stuffed it in his pants, but we all saw. The only thing was it wasn't the drugs that made him rude, that was just Merle.

"I need to make a run tomorrow." Glenn said one night while we were all eating. "We need all I can find. The women need supplies, then maybe I could get some clothes and shoes for all of us, we're all running a bit thin. Some food and medical supplies if I can find 'em."

"You should take Harley here with ya. Girlies fast, I can tell ya that." Merle chuckled, flicking me on the head. I sat in front of him, more by the fire and Daryl sat on the log beside him. We all stayed together and most of them noticed that. Not once did they ever come near us during dinner, they just let us sit together, they didn't try to sit on our log or within a close proximity. I thought it was smart, they learned quickly.

Glenn shook his head. "It's easier if I go by myself. I can get in and out, I don't have to worry about someone else."

"Let her go, it might be for the better. You can cover more area with someone there." Shane said.

Glenn nodded and went back to eating, admitting his defeat. "Okay, fine. We're leaving tomorrow morning, Harl."

Glenn wasn't happy about me going but he sucked it up. In the car ride the next morning he loosened up and stopped pouting.

"You ever done something like this before?" He asked.

I shrugged. "What'chu mean? Go to town?"

Glenn chuckled and shifted in his seat. "Well yeah but...make runs, I mean."

"No. We never made runs when we were in the woods, me n' my brothers. We had everythin' we needed." I answered.

"Oh, cool." Was all he said. Glenn was quite the awkward individual, I learned. He always treaded carefully. He watched his words and his actions, which was something I think Officer Buff should take lessons on from him.

"Merle kind of scares me." He said after a few minutes of silence.

I laughed. "He scares everyone."

"Does he scare you?"

"No. He scares everyone 'cept me and Daryl." I replied. "You get used to him. It's not the drugs talkin', that's actually the way he is." I stared out the window, watching the slow moving trees go past us.

"Must've been hard, yeah? Living with him, I mean." Glenn stuttered.

"He was rarely there," I confessed, my voice becoming more quieter as I spoke, much to my dismay. "From the beginning it's been me and Daryl. But yeah, it was hard when he was there." I snapped myself out of the snappy moment and ran my fingers through my hair. "But besides that tell me about you, Short-Round." I punched him in the arm.

Glenn just chuckled and took a hand off the wheel to rub his shoulder. "I'm nothing exciting."

"Oh come on. It doesn't have to be exciting." I pressed. It was better for me and him if we talked about his life, not mine.

"I used to be a pizza boy." He glanced at me with a smile.

I laughed. "To be honest I kind of expected that."

**.x.**

We parked just outside of the city by a pair of railroad tracks. It was an easy way into Atlanta without getting detected. We grabbed our backpacks and threw them on before we entered through the gate. I readied my bow the instant we crossed the fence , I was the muscle on the run. Glenn didn't carry a gun, only a knife and a flashlight. I figured he must have been really good if he goes by himself and only carries those things.

"Where you wanna hit first?" I asked as we were running. We were heading straight into the middle of Atlanta. Glenn lead the way since he knew where he was going and I brought up the rear, circling around to watch our backs.

"There's a pharmacy maybe four blocks away from the hardware store I hit for Dale last week. I say we try there first." He replied in a hushed tone.

"That'll get us deeper into the city, China-man, you realize that?" I snapped.

"I'm Korean." He growled, "And I'm not stupid, Harl."

"Try and convince me otherwise." I chuckled. I followed him into a back alley and we took a ladder up to the roof. Once you could see the all of the streets and the buildings you finally saw how infested it was. I didn't see any walkers coming in besides the few that roamed beside the treeline on the outskirts. These were the first undead I saw in the city and goddamn, it was a lot. "This is how it usually is?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. But once you get on a roof like this it's easier to plan and look at where they all are." He pointed down the road at the hardware store he was talking about. I followed his fingers as he went down the blocks and pointed at a group of buildings. "It is somewhere over there."

"So how we gonna do this? We can't just jump right in there."

"The roofs, they're all connected. And even if we have to cross the street it wouldn't be that bad, you'd just have to run like hell." Glenn chuckled at this. I found it funny how he treated the whole situation nonchalantly. He turned to me now, pointing a finger at me. "Keep up."

"Yeah, yeah." I muttered. Getting over the rooftops was easy. We managed to go fro a few blocks free from the risk of walkers but of course there has to be complications. It was the last strip too, we couldn't find a way onto the other building so we had to go down. Our formation was just as it had been when we had gone in, Glenn in the front and me providing protection from the back. We went through an opening in the horde of walkers. It was a short, narrow path. Once we step foot on the street they noticed us and it was high tailed from there. I managed to stab a few in the head with my knife, I didn't want to risk losing some arrows for a simple task. Plus since Glenn was also sending his blade through some heads as well it made it a lot simpler than it seemed it would be. I saved his ass more than twice. I was busy with my own walker problems when I hear him yelling my name. He had snapping teeth inches from his face and another one was coming up quickly behind him. I stabbed a nearby walker in the head and loaded my bow as fast as I could and aimed for the one that was hungrily groaning in his face. Once an arrow went straight through that one's head Glenn let him fall and pulled it out before turning and stabbing the one behind him with it.

"Come on!" Glenn yelled and waved his hand at me. We ran through the rest of them, we had put a decent sized dent into them and we could just run and dodge them the rest of the way. Glenn lead us into a back alley behind the set of buildings the pharmacy was supposed to be and on both ends the walkers started piling in. I looked around for a way out, there was no ladder but there was a door.

"In here!" I opened the door and we piled in. It was dark inside, it was probably a storage room or something. Glenn turned on his flash light and spanned it around the room. Cardboard boxes spanned around the room. When the circle of light hit a door I readied my bow. Glenn cautiously stood in front of me, a shaky hand reaching out to turn the cold knob. In a flash he threw it open and out of the corner of my eye I saw him brace himself. As far as I could see there was nothing but a store in front of us and once I saw the section signs that hung from the ceiling I knew it was the pharmacy he had been talking about. "S'clear."

"Great." Glenn rushed past me and took the bag off his back and zipped it open, starting to go up and down the isles.

"Be careful, we still don't know if this is safe." I warned him. "You have yer knife?"

He turned to me with a disappointing look on his face. "Na, I left it out there. I dropped it."

I groaned. "Great going dip-shit." I pulled mine from the sheath and held it out to him. "I want it back."

He nodded and stuttered, "T-thanks."

I took a tour of the store for myself, to check every little crevice and corner to make sure the whole place was clean. We were in there for a while, Glenn emptied the whole place, even taking things we didn't need. It wasn't overly stocked and had been ransacked before but there were a couple things left behind. He had a few items in his hands when he came up to me.

"Let's put these in your bag."

I turned and let him put them in there.

"I found some shampoo, body wash, and whatnot. Dale said we're running out in the RV." Glenn came back with his stuff on his back and my knife in hand, sending me a nod before going towards the front windows. "The back is probably overrun by now," He scratched the back of his neck, "It's not too bad out here. We could weave our way back around to where we went down on the street."

I nodded and tightened my grip on my bow. "Lead the way."

The trip back was successful. We made it out the city easy and followed our tracks back to the rail road. Glenn threw me the keys when we started coming up on our car. "You can drive back." He grinned at me.

I climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. Glenn had to direct me all the way up back to camp, I didn't quite know how to get three which is why I don't know why he gave me the keys. He was probably just tired and I couldn't blame the kid, Glenn was a machine when he was on his runs and I saw that first hand. I understood why he was good at it. Glenn had the skills capable of getting in and out safely and he wanted to do it.

"Thanks fer takin' me with ya." I murmured as we started up the trail.

I didn't take my eyes off the road but I could hear Glenn shift in his seat. "It's no problem. It was a helluva lot easier with you there, to be honest."

My lips turned up at the corners. "That's mighty nice of ya, China-man."

When we rolled up onto camp everyone was waiting for us. "How'd it go?" Shane asked, taking mine and Glenn's bags while we walked towards the center of camp.

Glenn answered. "Went good. Found some useful things."

I subconsciously searched for my brothers among the group. When I didn't see a hint of Merle's smart smile or Daryl's uncomfortable look I turned to Shane. "Where are my brothers?"

Shane adjusted his hat. "Where ya think?"

I huffed. "They better catch somethin'." Of course they were out hunting. I was silently praying they would get something other than squirrel. I shuffled around in my bag that Shane had sat down by the fire pit. I pulled out the new shampoo and body wash Glenn had got. "I'm takin' a shower." I went by my tent and got what clean clothes I had before heading to the RV. Dale's RV was complete with a bathroom and fortunately it had a shower. But when you share that thing with at least 30 other people it gets a little hectic. We didn't have shower schedule like everybody wanted so most of the time you had to put up with not taking a shower for a couple of days and when you finally got under the running water you couldn't take your sweet little time. I shut the RV door behind me but didn't bother to lock it, when someone took a shower no one came into the RV because you couldn't change in that little bathroom. I did lock the bathroom door, however.

The shower was small and compact, there wasn't enough room t bend down and shave your legs if you wanted and the women didn't do that anymore. I didn't worry about it, I was never one to shave anyway, let alone wear shorts and have someone look at them. I put the bottles of shampoo and wash on counter the sink sat on and leaned on it, staring at myself in the mirror. I don't know why I stared or even glanced at myself, I don't do that often. I don't like looking at myself because my mind automatically starts comparing me to others and how I should be different. I bit my bottom lip before pulling away and stepping into the shower. The water wasn't warm, it never was, although it wasn't ice cold either.

I didn't stay in there long, I washed up in record time and wrapped a towel around my waist before heading out to the back of the RV where I threw my clothes on the bed. I presence behind me made me tense and the voice that followed made me freeze.

"Harl?" It was Glenn. Why wasn't he running out? He obviously saw me and the right thing to do was walk out but he didn't. I could feel him standing there, I could feel his eyes piercing my back.

_My back_. That's what he was staring at. He was seeing the scars, the old and new, the deep and shallow. He was seeing the burns from the cigarettes and the old imprints that the buckle of the belt left in my skin. I didn't know what to do. "Get out of here." Was all I could muster. I could hear Glenn's feet shuffle across the RV floor and out the door. He slammed it shut as if to assure me he was indeed gone. I stood there for a moment a reflected on what happened, it was the unexpected. All I was thinking was that China-man better not say anything. I got dressed slowly and threw on what clean clothes I could find, just a new shirt and a new bra. When I walked out of the RV I gave the rest to Carol who went around doing what she did best; being Mama Bear.

"You okay?" She asked when I threw the clothes into her basket that she held at her hip.

"Yeah, m'fine." I huffed before heading to my tent. Glenn was waiting for me. He sat in front of the tent with his knees brought to his chest. Once I saw him I turned on my heel and headed the other way but I didn't get far before he came after me.

"Harl, Harley,"

I stopped and turned, crossing my arms over my chest and raising a brow at him.

"I-I'm sorry that I stepped in. I didn't think you were already done," He shook his head as he spoke and I notice he tried not to meet my eyes. He kept staring at the ground. "T-those...on your back. Where are they from?"

"Where the hell do you think?" I snapped.

He sat there for a moment, a hand on his chin. "Merle? How can y-"

"No, for fuck's sake, no! Merle's not like that," I said, shaking my head with my words. He opened his mouth to talk. "Daryl either." I said before he could get anything out.

"I know you don't want to talk about it but it might be for the best, to get it off your chest." He hushed and took a moment to look around and make sure no one was near.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I don't want no counseling shit, Glenn." I turned away and tried to stomp off but once again a hand found my arm and stopped me.

"I want to help." He whispered. I didn't know how to react. Was I supposed to fall to the ground and cry? Was I supposed to walk away and forget he every said anything? Should I tell him? I was scared to tell him, I was scared that he would everyone else. I didn't care if he judge,d I've dealt with that more than once in my life. I can handle discrimination but I can't afford everyone coming up to be and giving me sympathy; I didn't need it. I didn't want it, it made me feel weak.

I stayed put, with my back to Glenn. "It was my father," I breathed as quietly as I could. "And Daddy's done a lot more than what you saw."

Glenn's hand didn't waver from my arm and it made me uncomfortable. After a few minutes I jerked my arm away and waited for him to say anything. I expected an 'I'm sorry' and some pity but instead I got nothing so I walked away.

I didn't want to tell anybody, but Glenn knew now, he knew my secret.


End file.
